Three Perfect Little Girls
by Ojex XIII
Summary: Now teenagers, the girls must each face personal problems of their own while also facing off against an assassin that has been hired to kill them by a mysterious enemy.
1. Chapter 1

(**A/N**) I have no idea what possessed me to write this story. I remember being a fan of the show as a kid but I really havent watched it in years. well whatever. point is I got this idea in my head, it wouldnt go away, and I needed to get it out.

on another note, Im warning you now: homosexuallity will be a dominant theme in the character developement of one of the girls, as youll see soon enough should you decide to keep reading. if you dont like this idea, dont read.

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><p>Three Perfect Little Girls<p>

Chapter 1

"And then the Professor says, 'That's not bath soap, that's plutonium'!" Buttercup exclaimed, poorly imitating her father's voice as she concluded her humorous story. Now sixteen years old, Buttercup had matured into a beautiful young woman beyond most people's expectations. She let her hair down now and cut it off at the jaw line, tucked behind one ear and her bangs swept in the same direction. Her choice of clothes was much more suited to her personality now, wearing very baggy and ragged black jeans that required a belt to keep them from falling off her hips, and a forest green hoodie with a clenched fist over the chest, and she had both of her ears pierced in several places. The girl across the table from her burst into a fit of laughter, having not seen the punch line coming at all. "I've never been more thankful that I have a superhuman healing factor in my life."

"I'd imagine so." Karen chuckled before downing the last of her drink. Karen was a good looking girl in her own right, with long brunette hair and a smile that could light up a room. She tended to wear a plain black t-shirt and tight black blue jeans. The two girls were sitting in a small diner near Townsville Park, a favorite hangout of theirs, as that was where they met. It was starting to get dark out now so, having both finished their meals, they paid their waitress and decided to head home for the night. They pulled on their jackets and stepped outside into the cold streets, a thin layer of slush and fresh powder covering the sidewalks as January transitioned into February. Still feeling a bit chilly, Karen snaked her arm around Buttercups waist and pulled the other girl closer for a bit of warmth. Buttercup grinned and wrapped her arm around Karen's shoulders, the brunette leaning her head on the raven haired girls shoulder as they walked along.

"Hey, Buttercup?" Karen piped up after a short silence between the two of them.

"Yeah, babe?" Buttercup replied.

"I know you don't like to talk about this, but…"

"Karen, please don't." Buttercup protested, stopping in her tracks and turning to face her girlfriend. "I've told you before, I'm not ready to tell my family yet. I didn't even know I liked girls until I met you."

"I know, I know. It's hasn't even been two months." Karen sighed, relenting. "But we've been spending so much time together and everyone at school knows I'm gay. If you don't tell them soon, I'm almost positive Blossom will put two and two together."

Buttercup placed her hand on the other girls shoulder. "Karen, I know you don't like hiding this, but… I just can't do it yet. I mean, after what happened to Princess… And at least you've met my family. How often does your mom go out of town anyway?"

Karen wrapped her arms around the back of Buttercups neck and pulled her close, keeping their lips just inches apart. "Often enough for us to enjoy it." She grinned. Buttercup smiled back and moved in for the kiss, but stopped when the mayor's ringtone sounded on her phone. She groaned.

"Sorry." She said as she pulled the phone from her jacket pocket and answered it. "I'm in the middle of something here Mayor… Yes, as a matter of fact, it is a date… I can assure you that no boy is pawing me, Mayor. Now what's the emergency?..." she sighed again. "All right. I'll meet you and the others there." She hung up and turned to her girlfriend, an apologetic look.

"It's all right." Karen reassured her. "I can walk myself home from here."

Buttercup nodded before pulling the other girl close and giving her a quick peck on the lips. "I'll make it up to you." She whispered.

Karen grinned and giggled. "You'd better."

Karen watched, still smiling, as a streak of green disappeared beyond the skyscrapers, headed towards the mayor's office. She was so proud of what Buttercup and her sisters did, even if it did sometimes cut into their alone time. Still, she knew Buttercup would keep her promise, but it was still too bad that duty had to call right then and there. Karen's mother would still be out of town until tomorrow night and she could've used some company that evening. "All well." She sighed. "I guess it's another night of ice cream and bad indie movies for me."

~POKEY OAKS SOUTH RESIDENTIAL AREA~

"This place is awesome, Boomer!" Bubbles exclaimed gleefully as she and the aforementioned boy stepped inside his new apartment.

"Eh, it's all right." Boomer agreed lazily. "I can afford it at least."

"It's free, Boomer."

"Yeah, so long as I'm still in school and I help out my land lady with a few chores every now and then."

"Well isn't she the sweetest old thing."

"Don't call her old. I learned that the hard way."

Bubbles and Boomer had just finished moving the last of the boy's stuff into his new apartment, which was actually the second floor of a home owned by a kindly old woman. It wasn't much: just a small bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen/living room, but it was enough for the one boy. Like her sister, Bubbles grown up quite a bit. Her hair was now as long as Blossoms and, while she still kept it in her famous pigtails, she now simply had two hair ties at the sides of her head and let her long hair hang down through them. Nowadays she wore a white tank top with a tight, robin's egg blue over shirt with long sleeves but no shoulders. She also wore a darker blue miniskirt with black leggings underneath. One thing that hadn't changed, however, was her everlasting sense of innocence. No matter who she was with, she always brought a smile to their face, and Boomer was no exception. He was a bit taller than Bubbles now and had let his hair grow out a bit as well, though he kept his in a low pony tail and it only reached to the back of his neck. He also had a soul patch now, a small patch of facial hair just below his lower lip. His clothing consisted of the baggiest and loosest pair of dark blue jeans he could find and wear without requiring a belt for them to barely hang onto his hips and expose most of his boxers, as well as a white tank top and a dark blue hoodie which he always left unzipped.

The two of them plopped down on opposite sides of the couch and Bubbles quickly snatched up the remote, flipping the channel to MTV to watch some reality show that she knew Boomer hated. Boomer rolled his eyes but accepted this, knowing there was no way he would be able to wrestle the remote away from the smaller girl.

"So what are your plans now, Boomer?" Bubbles asked, her eyes never leaving the television. "I mean, you've done your time in prison. What's next?"

"Well, obviously I'm going back into school. I'm still surprised they're actually allowing me into Townsville High instead of forcing me to get a GED. But otherwise… I dunno. Look for a job, try to become a respectable member of society… maybe get a girlfriend."

"Boomer." Bubbles scolded him, sending a death glare his way.

"I didn't mean you." He protested. "We've tried that, remember? Didn't go so well. Even if I'm not evil anymore, I don't think getting back together would be a good idea."

"My sentiments exactly." Bubbles agreed. When Bubbles decided to rekindle her friendship with her formerly evil counterpart after he was released from prison, she made it clear that friends would be as far as they would ever get again. "What about your brothers? Are you going to try to find them?"

"Are you kidding? Those two are half way to Brazil by now." Boomer exclaimed. "It's not like I can just fly around at mach five and use super hearing to find them."

"I could!"

"I don't want you too." Boomer protested. "Having Him take away my powers was the best decision I ever made. It got me on the right path… Brick and Butch were too bull headed to see that. That's why they left town and swore they would never come back. You know after it happened Brick started talking about us causing mayhem the old fashion way? That's why I decided to stay and serve my time when they went on their cross country crime spree." He suddenly stood and walked over to the small fridge he kept next to the TV, pulling out a coke and taking a swig. "Trust me, Bubbles. Being normal is fantastic compared to being superhuman. Don't let anyone ever tell you different."

Bubbles didn't say a word as she pondered what he'd said. She didn't think about it long though, as an idea suddenly crossed her mind. "C'mon." she said, standing up and grabbing his arm. "Let's go get some ice cream."

"Um, Bubbles…" Boomer protested, trying to shake his arm out of her vise grip. "I'm still on parole. I can't leave my home except for school for the next two and a half months. I was only given leeway today so I could move in."

Bubbles just grinned. "Well according to my watch, today still has five hours left."

Boomer chuckled and shook his head. "Girl, I like the way you think."

But suddenly, Bubble's ringtone went off, specifically the Mayor's ringtone. "Ugh! Hold on, Boomer." She said as she pulled her phone from her purse. "Hello?... Does it have to be right now? I kind of had plans… yeah, yeah, I know. Duty before pleasure… Fine, I'll see you in a few." She sighed as she hung up and turned back to Boomer. "I'm sorry. Guess we'll have to take a rain check on that ice cream."

"No problem." Boomer shrugged. "It's your job after all."

"Mind if I use the window?"

"Go for it."

~UTONIUM RESIDENCE~

"Professor?" Blossom called as she opened the basement door. There was no response so, she pulled on a lab coat from one of the hangers on the wall and descended down the stairs. "Dad? You down here?" Like her sisters, Blossom had changed a lot over the years. She still had her long, auburn hair, but had long since ditched the bow, preferring now to wear a red bandana on occasions. Her clothing consisted of a white pair of capris and a pink, long sleeved t-shirt with the letters "PPG" printed across the chest in her own calligraphic design. As she proceeded down the stairs the sound of mild snoring echoed around her. She just sighed and shook her head with a smile as she rounded the corner, finding her father hunched over his work desk, asleep. The professor had aged a bit over the years, his hair around the sides of his head now gray and now wearing glasses almost constantly, but otherwise he remained the same as he always was.

"I swear if it weren't for us you would live down here." Blossom chuckled as she approached her sleeping father. She reached for his shoulder and gently shook. "Dad… c'mon, wake up. You're not staying down here all night. "

"Hm?" the Professor mumbled as he forced his eyes open and sat up, stretching his arms. "Oh, hello, Blossom. What time is it?" he yawned.

"Time for you to come upstairs and relax." Blossom scolded, forcefully pulling her father from his seat. "Seriously, Professor. You've been shutting yourself in here for hours at a time all week. You need to relax."

"I suppose your right." He yawned again as, now in the living room, he plopped down in his reclining chair. Blossom brought over a blanket and pulled it over him. "I was in the middle of running some important tests. Do me a favor, Blossom… wake me up *yawn* in a few hours to I can… check on… the…" He was asleep again before he could even finish his sentence.

Blossom left her father to sleep and returned to the basement, curious as to what could be so important that he would lock himself down there for more than the already substantial amount of time he spent in his lab. As a scientist of multiple expertise, the Professor got most of his money from government grants in exchange for performing certain experiments, some of which he wasn't legally allowed to tell his daughters the details about. But Blossom didn't think this was the case. Blossom frequently helped the Professor with his experiments when she was allowed to, and he always made a point of telling her when he was working on something classified. He hadn't said a word to her about what he was working on now, and she had been too busy to ask thanks to a college course she was taking in her spare time. She didn't think the Professor was intentionally hiding anything from her, she trusted him too much for that. But something was definitely unusual about this new project of his.

When she entered the basement, she first looked over some of the many papers messily strewn across the Professors desk. She immediately spotted something odd. "These are blood test results." She muttered as she looked over the papers. This was very unusual. Despite all of the Professor's scientific prowess, a doctor he was not. She'd never known him to study medicine of any kind. Why would he be running blood tests? Or perhaps a better question was on who, and what for. One thing she noticed was a large X circled at the bottom of the page. She had no idea what this could mean.

She next activated the computer monitor to see if she could find some more clues. She typed in the password he'd trusted her with, but was disappointed to find that, whatever he was working on, all of the files were encrypted at least four times. Even if she were the best computer hacker in the world, which she wasn't anywhere close, it would take her hours, perhaps even days, to break through the barriers protecting the files. "What is going on, Professor?" she asked herself. "Why are you being so secretive?"

She never got an answer. At that very moment her cell phone began to right, the Mayor's ring tone. "What's the trouble, Mayor?" she asked as she answered the phone. "… Your office? Yeah, I can get there… Right now? Sure, no problem." She hung up and dashed back up the stairs, tossing her lab coat onto the rack just before closing the door behind her. She grabbed her jacket and flew towards the door, but stopped just before reaching for the handle. She looked back over her shoulder, finding the Professor still in his recliner, sleeping peacefully. She glided over to him and gave him a quick peck on the forehead. "I'll be back soon Professor." She said before flying out the door, leaving a pink vapor trail in her wake.

~TOWNSVILLE CITY HALL~

Blossom flew through the window of the Mayor's office to find her sisters already there waiting for her. "What's the situation?" she asked.

The swiveling chair behind the desk spun around, revealing Mayor Sara Bellum seated upon it. The mayor from their childhood, Mayor Barney Mayor, the sweet though dimwitted man they'd grown to know and love, had died a few years earlier. Apparently the cause of death had been a heart attack which some suspect was brought on when the old man finally managed to open a jar of pickles. While they loved and missed the old mayor, they had to admit that Mayor Bellum was doing a much better job of running the city. "Girls, we've received word from our informant in the local mafia that there's going to be a bank robbery at Townsville Central Bank in just a few hours." Mayor Bellum informed them. "I would've contacted you earlier, but I just got the news myself."

"So?" Buttercup questioned. "If you already know about it then why not just post some cops and let them handle it. It's not like you really need our muscle to handle a few punks with guns."

"Buttercup, I know you're upset that I interrupted your date but that's no excuse."

"You were on a date, Buttercup?" Bubbles asked, genuinely astonished.

"Shut up, Bubbles."

"But to answer your question, Buttercup, these aren't just punks with guns." Mayor Bellum continued. "Our informant also notified us of shipments of strange weaponry being received from an unknown benefactor as well as some suspicious individuals, even by mob standards, being seen conversing with high ranking mafia members. We have no idea who these individuals are or what kind of fire power these unknown weapons contain, but I believe we've discovered the reason behind such drastic preparations for a simple bank robbery." She turned to her computer and hit a few keys before turning the monitor to the girls. "Nine years ago, a safety deposit box was opened at Townsville Central Bank by a man named Joseph Monroe. Some of the items deposited were rather… strange. Besides the usual documents and valuables, he also stored several vials of an unknown liquid and a series of scientific documents. Shortly after, Mister Monroe disappeared."

"Okay…" Bubbles nodded, seeming puzzled.

"And as you will recall, around the same time your old nemesis Mojo Jojo disappeared as well."

"So you think Mojo and this Monroe guy were the same person." Blossom chimed in.

"At the very least we believe Mister Monroe was a robot designed and controlled by Mojo."

"So you think that these mobsters are planning to steal Mojo's science juice and paper work." Buttercup stated. "And you obviously can't let that happen. That's why you need us."

"Precisely."

"Do you have anything on the weaponry that they'll be using?" Blossom questioned.

"Just a short video our informant managed to record." With a few clicks of the mouse, Mayor Bellum opened the file and video began to play. The angle was awkward and half of the screen was blocked by what looked like the guys sleeve, but they still had a decent view of someone standing in front of a caged mountain lion. The beast seemed enraged and hungry, as it roared and leapt at the bars of its prison. After a few seconds the cage opened and the mountain lion leapt at the man, and just as quickly the man had drawn a gun and squeezed the trigger. Rather than a bullet, a beam of light shot from the barrel and engulfed the big cat, and when it faded all that was left was a pile of charred bones. Bubbles gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth when she saw this. Blossom and Buttercup just sat in silence.

"As you can see, this technology is very dangerous. Our police force would be mowed down if they tried to stop this."

Blossom and her sisters stood up from their seats. "We're on it, Mayor." The red head agreed, and without another word the three of them ran for the window and leapt out, flying off for Townsville Central Bank.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So, Buttercup… who's this mystery guy you were out with tonight?"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"

"Oh, come on! I want to know!" Bubbles whined. "Please?"

"Will you two give it a rest already?" Blossom finally broke in, tired of her sister's bickering. The three of them were waiting on a rooftop near Townsville Central Bank, waiting for the robbers to show up. The Townsville PD had blocked off every street within a two block radius and had helicopters patrolling the night skies. While her sisters hung back and waited, passing the time with their arguing, Blossom kept a vigilant eye on the bank, using a combination of X-Ray and telescope vision to make sure nothing was going on inside the building. So far everything seemed normal and calm, and the robbers were half an hour over due from what Mayor Bellum had told them.

"Come on, Blossom. Aren't you curious too?" Bubbles asked.

"Of course I am. And I plan to pester her relentlessly about it when we get home tonight."

"Gee, thanks." Buttercup grumbled.

"But right now we've got work to do." Blossom continued. "Whatever Mojo Jojo left in that bank could very well be dangerous. Those papers could be the blue prints to some kind of doomsday weapon, and those chemicals some kind of biological warfare agent. Whatever they are, if they get into the wrong hands, especially the mobs, it won't be good news for Townsville. Now I want you two focused and ready to go before—" she paused and cringed as she heard an explosion, the front doors of the bank being blown open from the inside. "—that happens."

There were three robbers, two males and a female, all wearing skin tight leather jumpsuits, boots, and gloves. One of the men carried a duffel bag. The two men both wore ski masks to conceal their identities, but the woman had her head exposed, letting her boyishly short brunet hair with blond highlights be seen, and only a domino mask hiding her face. "Looks like they're not here boys. We've got what we came for, so let's get moving."

"I don't think so!" Blossom called out as she and her sisters leapt down from their perch, landing at the bottom of the bank steps, right in the robber's path. "You three are going to jail for a long time."

The woman , clearly the leader of the group, let a menacing grin crawl onto her lips. "Oh goody." She chuckled. "The other half of my paycheck."

Blossom gave her an inquisitive look. "Other half? What?"

"Don't be stupid. You know about the weapons we're carrying. You think we'd carry that kind of heat for a simple robbery?... There's a price on your heads, Powerpuff Girls… And we intend to collect it. Get 'em, boys!"

The man carrying the duffel bag carefully set it down, reaching inside and pulling out four large metal gloves, tossing two of them to his companion. The Woman reached to her hips, but instead of drawing a gun she pulled two sais from under her belt. They activated their weapons, the blades of the woman's lighting up with bright white energy, as did the wires of the two men's gauntlets. Buttercup couldn't help but notice that the woman was giving her a curious glare, a mixture of anger and amusement at the same time. "You guys handle Thing One and Thing Two." Buttercup told her sisters as she stepped in front of them. "I think the skinny bitch wants to dance with me."

The Raven haired girl leapt into the air, flying over the bank steps and tackling the woman back into the bank lobby. The two men charged down at the other two girls. Bubbles raised her arms to block as the man went to punch her, and when he made contact she went flying back, crashing through the wall of the building on the other side of the road. "Bubbles!" Blossom called out, stepping in between the two men and her sister.

Bubbles tried standing up, but collapsed back into the rubble of the wall. Her arms burned with pain like she'd never felt before. She'd taken beatings before, but for the most part it hadn't been a big deal because she and her sisters were near invulnerable. But she'd never felt anything like this. Through her blurred vision she looked down at her arm. It was burnt, badly. The skin had been charred black where the gauntlet had touched her. The pain faded quickly as her arm went numb, but she knew something was wrong when she didn't see the wound healing itself.

"Blossom!" she called out as she pushed herself to her feet with her good arm, the injured one completely numb and useless. "Don't let those things touch you! They can hurt us." Blossom wanted to ask what she meant, but when she saw her sister's injuries she stopped dead in her tracks. One of the men took advantage of this and charged at her, catching her off guard. He nearly hit her, but Bubbles blasted him away with her heat vision, the blast shattering his gauntlets.

Blossom flew over to guard her injured sister, the second robber cautiously moving towards them while the one who had lost his gauntlets pushed himself back to his feet. Thinking quickly, Blossom inhaled deeply and unleashed a gust of ice and cold from between her lips. She caught the man on the ground, encasing him in a tomb of ice, but the second man was able to block the cold winds. When Blossom's cold breath made contact with the superheated gauntlets, steam erupted out, creating a veil of fog around the three of them. Using this to her advantage, Blossom dashed at him through the fog, knocking him unconscious with an uppercut to the jaw. When he hit the ground, Blossom destroyed his gauntlets with her heat vision and captured him in ice like his partner.

"What the heck are those gloves made of?" Bubbles asked as she staggered over to her sister.

Blossom immediately grabbed her, supporting her with her shoulders. "Take it easy, Bubbles. You're really hurt."

"Yeah, I noticed." Bubbles chuckled weakly. "But we can worry about me later. Let's go help Buttercup first." Blossom agreed and keeping a tight grip on Bubbles, hovered up over the bank steps. She stopped and sat Bubbles down near where one of the robbers had dropped the duffel bag.

"Now let's see what we've got in here." She mumbled as she pulled the zipper. She took a look inside before a look of shock befell her face. "Oh my god!"

Inside the bank, Buttercup and the woman were going at it. Bouncing off of walls, throwing punches and kicks, slashing blades, and they had yet to even touch each other. They were both just too quick for the other to land a blow. "You're pretty good for a little brat." The woman commented as she swung her sai at her opponent, Buttercup jumping back just far enough for her to miss.

"I could say the same about you, you old hag." Buttercup retorted, throwing a punch which was easily ducked under.

Buttercup was about to make another move when the woman leapt back, doing a few back flips before landing behind a teller's desk. She grabbed the computer monitor on the desk and flung it at the teenager who simply punched it in midair, shattering it across the floor. She next chucked the CPU at her, and then the chair, and both were obliterated in Buttercup's wake. But as the debris from the chair fell to the ground, the woman leapt off the top of the desk at the girl, too quickly for her to spot and dodge before one of the flowing white sais cut across her shoulder, cutting in deep. The pain was almost unbearable, even for her. She staggered back, clutching at her wound. There was no blood, the heat from the weapon having cauterized the wound, but her flesh had been seared and charred black. The woman smirked and used this opportunity to swing around on her heel and kick her other leg up, striking Buttercup in the jaw and knocking her off her feet.

It was barely two seconds after the raven haired girl hit the ground that the woman was on top of her, holding the tip of her blade to her throat. "Hurts, doesn't it?" She whispered into Buttercups ear. She slowly dragged the tip of her blade along Buttercup's jaw line, leaving a thin trail of burnt skin along the side of her throat. "You know these weapons were designed specifically to be able to kill you, and there's a lot more where these came from… I bet you can't guess what the secret is." Buttercup didn't respond, only glaring at the woman. She scowled back before speaking again. "Of all the people in this rat hole of a city, why you?"

"Why me, what?" Buttercup growled.

The woman growled and glared at her before raising up one of her blades, aiming it directly at Buttercup's heart. "I want you to know two things before I kill you. First, my name is Mercy. Mercy Nary. Second, I'm going to kill your sisters for the money… But with you, it's personal."

"Personal? Why?" Buttercup groaned.

Mercy only shook her head. "So long, brat." She said, the hand holding her raised sai shaking. Buttercup closed her eyes, waiting to feel her heart being pierced, but instead she felt Mercy's weight being lifted off her, followed by the sound of a thud nearby. Buttercup opened her eyes and looked around, finding Mercy laying on the ground back by the teller's desk, struggling to get back to her feet and her sais knocked out of her hands. By the door Buttercup spotted her sisters, Bubbles being supported on Blossom's shoulders and her eyes still steaming, having blasted Mercy off of her. Blossom carried the duffel bag on her other shoulder.

Before Mercy could get back up, Blossom unleashed a gust of ice and cold from her lips, intending to capture the woman as she did her cohorts. Mercy quickly grabbed one of her sais off the ground and used it to block the ice breath, the heat from the weapon turning the ice to steam, blanketing the bank lobby in a thick fog. Blossom felt the strap of the bag snap as it was ripped from her shoulder. By the time the fog had cleared Mercy was gone, and the bag along with her.

Buttercup cursed as Blossom helped her back to her feet. She didn't need help standing like Bubbles did, but she was still disoriented. "I can't believe she got away! And with the loot too!"

"Forget about it." Blossom told her. "I need to get you two to a hospital and then report back to Mayor Bellum."

"And tell her what? That the bad guys got away?"

"Actually we got the other two." Bubbles pointed out.

"Show offs."

"Well besides that, she needs to know what was in Mojo's safety deposit box. The papers had notes and the chemical formula of Chemical X… and the vials had samples."

They didn't spend much time at the hospital. They both had their burns treated, and Buttercup had her shoulder stitched up. Amazingly the blow Bubbles took to the arm actually broker her bone, so she had to have a cast put on, and her arm in a sling. With their super human healing abilities, Buttercup's stitches could be taken out in a few days, and Bubbles would have her cast removed in a week or two. Of course their father was panicking when he arrived after getting the phone call. The girls had literally didn't even have medical records, so hearing that two of them were suddenly in the hospital for the first time had him very worried. The Professor forced them to ride home with him, refusing to allow them to fly in their condition. He wanted to go directly home, but Blossom convinced him to stop at the Mayor's office first. Bubbles and Buttercup stayed in the car, Bubbles having fallen asleep and Buttercup starting to nod off, while Blossom went in with the Professor. He was confused as to why she wanted him to come in at first, but when she told him and Mayor Bellum what Mercy and her partners were after he understood. He was one of the world's leading experts on the rare chemical. If Chemical X was involved in whatever was going on, he needed to know.

"Why is it called Chemical X anyway?" Blossom wondered aloud.

"The real name is about thirty-nine syllables long and starts with an X. "The Professor explained. "It's just easier to say."

"Well, this information has been very helpful, Blossom." Bellum said as the girl and her father stood to leave. "It still concerns me that the contents of Mojo's box were lost, but at least we know where it's going. I'll tell our man in the mob everything we know and see what happens."

"Sounds like a plan." Blossom agreed.

"Now you two go home and make sure Bubbles and Buttercup get plenty of rest. I practically help raise you girls, I don't want to see anything happen to you."

"Believe me, you aren't the only one." The Professor laughed as he and Blossom left the office, shutting the door behind them.

~THE NEXT DAY~

Needless to say there was a big uproar the next day at school. Everyone was asking what had happened, how in the world Bubbles and Buttercup had been hurt, wanting to sign Bubble's cast, etcetera. When they ran into Boomer he just started laughing. He, of all people, knew they would be fine. He just called them pansies and signed Bubble's cast before heading off to class. Buttercup wouldn't admit it, but she was a little jealous of all the attention her sister was getting. Her stitches were hidden under her shirt, and the scar on her chin was barely noticeable.

"Oh my god, what happened?"

Bubbles sighed. The way everyone was flipping out over her was getting old really fast. "Oh, it's nothing." She said as she turned around to greet whoever was coming next. "Just the usual superhero… thing." She stopped the person approaching brushed right by her and headed straight for Buttercup. It was Karen, a friend who Buttercup had been spending a lot of time with lately, Bubbles had noticed.

Karen grabbed Buttercup's chin and turned her head to the side, eyeing the scar on her neck. "What did you do to your beautiful face?" she demanded.

"If you think that's bad you should see the other one." Buttercup chuckled, placing a hand on the other girls shoulder. "Honestly you're lucky I'm still here. That crazy bank robber chick nearly killed me."

A little smile crossed Karen's face, her cheeks flushing red as she looked down to Buttercup's hand on her shoulder. "Um… Buttercup." she said, glancing over to the two girls standing next to them. Buttercup blushed and pulled her hand away, trying not to let her sisters see her look over to them. Bubbles was eyeing them curiously, but Blossom seemed too lost in thought to notice what had happened.

"Well, look at that, the rumors are true."

"Never thought I'd see the day a Powerpuff walked in here with a broken arm."

_Oh thank god, a distraction._ Buttercup thought.

It was their old enemy turned good friend, Princess Morebucks, and her girlfriend Gabby. Yes, the high and mighty princess had changed a lot over the years. It started about three years ago when they were all thirteen. Princess was still her old self back then: arrogant, self centered, and an all around spoiled brat. She didn't even think twice when she discovered she was distracted to women and openly flaunted the fact. But when she told her father she got a life changing blow: he kicked her out of the house and the Morebucks family. As it turns out her father was very religious. Princess was devastated and didn't know what to do. She ended up staying with the Utoniums for a while but eventually ended up in foster care, in the home of a plus sized, middle class woman named Mallory Goldsmith. After a year Princess was legally adopted by Mallory and she wanted to legally change her last name to Goldsmith. To this day Princess still wore her signature yellow and black, typically black jeans and shoes and a yellow sweater. Like Buttercup, she cut off her brunet hair at the jaw line now and swept her bangs over to one side.

Gabby was her girlfriend of the last six months. Tall, slim, long raven black hair, anyone could see why Princess had been attracted to the girl. She had glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose and wore a red hoodie with an ankle length black skirt. Gabby was a nice enough girl. She kept Princess in line and always seemed to know how to cheer her friends up, but some people didn't like her because she was a bit of a smart ass which even Princess had to admit was true. About half of what she said was slathered in sarcasm. But Princess was willing to put up with this because Gabby was willing to put up with her, which not a lot of people were. A lot of people still saw Princess as the spoiled brat of a super villain despite the girl's best efforts to leave that image behind her.

"This is some king of April Fools Day joke, right?" Gabby asked, adjusting her glasses a bit to get a better look at Bubbles' arm.

"It's February, baby." Princess pointed out.

"Oh really? And here I thought it was July." Gabby joked. Princess just rolled her eyes. "So what happened?"

Bubbles would've told the story (again) if the final warning bell hadn't rung. "I'll tell you guys later. Gotta get to class."

The three sisters went one direction and Princess, Gabby, and Karen went the other. Once the girls were out of earshot, Princess turned to Karen. "Are you all right?" she asked. "You look like something's bugging you."

Karen sighed, keeping her eyes on the path ahead of her instead of returning Princess's gaze. "It's nothing." She assured her. "Just… Buttercup still isn't ready to come out to her family. I mean, I understand and I've been patient with her but… I really don't like hiding our relationship. Sometimes I think she's ashamed of me or something."

"Oh, don't be crazy. You know better than anyone that she loves you." Gabby said as the three of them stepped into their first period algebra class and took their seats. "Her problem isn't with you, it's with herself. For all the courage she has, fighting monsters and super villains practically every day of her life, coming to terms with this probably terrifies her more than any of that. Just be patient with her, and be there for her when she finally is ready."

Karen smiled. "How is it you know exactly what to say, Gabby?"

"There's gotta be some smarts under all that crazy." Princess laughed. Gabby playfully hit her in the arm and they kissed before class started. Karen smiled again, and hoped that she and Buttercup could be like them soon.

~ELSEWHERE~

Boomer sat quietly in his English class on the other end of the building, painstakingly working on his assignment. Writing a paper on Henry David Thoreau wasn't exactly his idea of a good time, and he suspected that many of his classmates were having about as much fun as he was, but he wasn't going to screw up his life again just because he was bored with his school work. As he continued scrawling the tip of his pencil over the paper he began to notice some odd things: the room had gone silent except for the scratching of his own pencil, the room had become eerily still as if time had frozen, and then a shade of red fell down from the lights. He knew almost immediately what was going on.

"You."

"Me." He said.

Boomer looked up from his paper, to the desk where his teacher had previously been sitting. But in the grumpy old man's place, He now sat. The tall, lanky red figure with crimson crab claws for hands, His twisted grin surrounded by a long, hooked nose and a curled, neatly trimmed beard. His eyes burned with an evil yellow, and his ears elongated back into points.

It was Him.

He stood up on his high heeled boots and started toward the boy. Boomer looked back down to his paper and continued writing. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Oh, just checking in on my favorite son." He said, resting a claw on Boomer's shoulder. "How have you been, boy? Your brothers are having a grand old time in Costa Rica right now."

"Don't care."

"Well that's no way to talk about family."

"Look, clearly you want something, so just get to the point."

"Straight to business." He chuckled. "One of the reasons I like you, Boomer. Now let's see, why am I here?..." he paused and paced back up to the teacher's desk as he thought. "Oh, that's right. I came back here to offer you this back." He opened up one of his claws and a blue sphere of energy appeared. It started floating slowly over to Boomer, but He kept a firm grip on it. "Your powers… You're going to need them soon."

"No thanks." Boomer said, still not looking up from his paper. "I got rid of them for a good reason. I'm not going to screw it up by taking them back.

He shrugged and closed his claw, the orb disappearing. "Very well, young man. I won't give them back if you don't want them. But this time would have been a freebee. If you ever want them back after this, it'll cost you."

"I'll take that chance." Boomer replied.

His twisted grin grew wider. "So persistent. Another reason reason you're my favorite son."

"I'm not your son."

"Whatever you say, kiddo." But if you ever need me, you know where to find me." And with that, He vanished and time resumed normally. Boomer just continued writing his paper, but anyone who looked directly at him could've seen how shaken he was. What did He mean when he said Boomer would need his powers soon… And if he really did, what would His cost be?

Boomer finished his paper and walked up to the teacher's desk to turn it in. "Maybe I should've taken the offer." He whispered to himself as he laid his head down on his desk.

~ELSEWHERE~

John Utonium waited in silence next to his computer in his laboratory, waiting anxiously for his contact to respond. It had been a week since he had sent the latest batch of samples and data, and the long wait was making him nervous. He tried to distract himself by working on other things, but the only things that really seemed to take his mind off the matter at hand were his daughters and… another woman who had caught his interest as of late. But none of them were here to calm him down. All he had at that moment was the silence, a cup of coffee, and a game of solitaire up on his monitor.

A sudden flashing at the bottom of the screen caught his eye. It was a message from his contact. He quickly brought up the email and read it, scowling at how short and uninformative it was. He was treating this like a text message.

_I have good news and bad news._

The Professor was annoyed by the way his contact was treating this, but he, whoever he was, was the only one who could help him at this point. He replied back.

_Tell me the good news._

Just a few moments later, a new email.

_There is a cure._

This brought a little smile to his face, but it quickly disappeared as he remembered that there was more to come.

_And the bad?_

_Unless the source of the poison is found and destroyed, your illness will keep coming back. Quicker each time. Have you found the source?_

He had.

_No._

_Until the source of the poison is found, the best I can do is delay the inevitable. I'm sorry._

John sat back in his chair, hands clasp behind his head, and sighed. He replied one more time before shutting off the computer.

_As am I._

The Professor walked slowly up the stairs from his basement laboratory, letting this new information sink in. He closed the door behind him and locked it. He almost dropped the key into his pocket, but stopped and opened his hand to take a look at it. Would he need in there again? Did he ever want to go in there again? As these thoughts flew through his mind he found himself walking into the kitchen, stopping in front of the trash can, pressing his foot on the lever to open the lid. He looked down to the key in his hand one more time, a tear rolling down his cheek, before dropping it into the trash.

He grabbed his cell phone off of the kitchen counter and scrolled through his contacts before he found her number. It rang only once before she answered. "Hello, Melinda. How was your trip?... Sounds fascinating. So you're back in town?... Just stepped in the door? Well, I won't keep you long then. Listen, I was wondering if you'd like to come over for dinner tonight. I think it's high time you met my girls… Yes, of course your daughter can come. They're going to have to meet her sooner or later… All right then, I'll see you at seven… See you later, Mel. I love you too."

* * *

><p>(<strong>AN**) okay, so let me explain what i did with princess in this chapter. some of you might think it might be overkill, having four lesbians in the same story, but when originally thought of this story, it was going to be mostly about Buttercup dealing with her sexuality. thats still a dominating theme, but now Ive also given Bubbles and Blossom their own stories as well. My original version was going to be about Buttercup meeting Karen, learning about her sexuality, and so forth. Princess and Gabby would have been sort of guides to help her through all of that. I originally did want to remove princess being gay from this story after the changes i made, but i kept it for 2 reasons: i really liked gabbys character and in the last chapter buttercup mentioned something about princess so... fuck it. anyway, princess and gabby will still be around, but their role in the story has been severely reduced from my original version.

anyway, any guesses on who Mercy and Melinda are. Im not giving any hints XP. feel free to speculate.

updates on my other stuff, UDM and Elsweyr are at the top of my list right now, as well as the first chapter of my fantasy Teen Titans story. Im trying to work on all of my stuff more diligently now, but its still difficult since im working 40 hours a week. so, how you enjoyed the chapter. see you later.


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